susan sher was chief of staff with michelle obama. and that he is curator at the white house, a position that came about as a result of the work jackie kennedy did. we are going to talk about state dinner and use that as an introduction for all of us and how they are put on, where the first lady comes into it, all of the various parts of the white house that get involved. it certainly is a big event and one that involves everybody. gary, can you start as off? as chief usher you handled the residence staff. >> i would be glad to. the first notice of a state dinner or state visit comes from the state department. it usually goes through the social secretary of the white house. soon after the socialists a cap -- after the social security -- social secretary had a conversation with the first lady, he would lay out who, when, where, and how it was going to be about. there was a lot of planning. there is a lot of planning. usually these events are planned three, four, sometimes as much as a year in the future. sometimes a lot less time depen